So we finally finished installing most of the stereo stuff this weekend and it sounds great. Here's the problem, the stereo works fine until we hit the throttle, at this point the two amps, one rockford x2 for the tower speakers and one kicker 350.4 for the two subs, cut out. The amps will kick back on when you put the boat back in neutral. I have no idea what to do to fix this problem. One of my friends said to try a cap, but I have heard from other people that they aren't that useful. Also, when we hit the throttle the volt meter jumps up from 13/14 to about 16/17. Is the problem that we are getting a power spike that would cause the amps to go into a safe mode? If so, how do we fix it? Thanks for any help!

If your voltmeter is accurate, and is actually sending your volts up that high, then yes, you need to get the voltage regulator on your alternator checked out. Shouldn't be punching the juice that high at all...around 14.4v should be max you get out of it. Get a shop to test the wire itself, make sure that your meter's readings are accurate, and if so, definitely have that reg. checked out. If your amplifiers are unregulated, they're getting a very dangerous surge and you'll blow em pretty quick.

So basically we should check the alternator and go from there? If it is putting out too much power like it seems how do we go about fixing it? Is it just a simple part that we can replace or are we going to have to replace the whole alternator? Thanks for the help so far guys!

I'm not sure if you can just replace the voltage regulator on your alternator or not. A shop will know or the place where you can buy the parts. Make sure if you replace the alternator that it's got the spark arrestor on it so it can't ignite fumes in the motor box.

If the regulator is bad and 16-17 is real, arent you risking frying other parts on your boat too that are rated for less than 14.4v?

You can replace just the regulator on your alt....it's realtively cheap....around $20-40. I just had mine replaced. It went bad. If you voltage is reading that high, your amps will definatley cut-out (protection mode)